LOCKE NAMED ECAC HOCKEY’S

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Dec. 10: ECAC Hockey announced their weekly award winners on Monday afternoon, and St. Lawrence University junior forward Marianna Locke has been tabbed the conference’s Player of the Week for her performances versus Maine last weekend.

Locke posted a five point weekend against the Black Bears with three goals and two assists as the Saints swept their Hockey East foe out of Appleton Arena by the scores of 2-0 and 9-1.

The Brasher Falls, NY native scored the game-winning goal in each contest, and tied her season-high for points in a game with four in Saturday's win.

ECAC Hockey also honored Yale freshman forward Bray Ketchum as Rookie of the Week and the Colgate freshman goaltender Lisa Plenderleith as the conference’s Goaltender of the Week.

Locke and the Saints, who remained No. 4 in this week’s USCHO.com Poll, will welcome No. 3 Minnesota Duluth to Appleton Arena for a two-game series that could have major implications come the NCAA Tournament selections. The puck will drop on the Saints and Bulldogs at 7:00pm on Friday, December 14th.

JUNIOR CLASS LEADS NO. 4 SAINTS

IN 9-1 ROUT OF MAINE

Dec. 8: The No. 4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team turned to their talented group of juniors to lead the way against Maine on Saturday, as the five members of the Class of 2009 each scored at least one goal as the Saints routed the University of Maine on Saturday afternoon by the score of 9-1.

Juniors Marianna Locke and Alison Domenico chipped in two goals and two assists each, while fellow classmates Carson Duggan, Lisa Batchelor and Jordan Pyers each added a goal against the Black Bears. Maine fell to 1-16-2 (0-6-2) on the season, while the win moved St. Lawrence to 13-3-0 (7-1-0) and sets up a nationally-prominent series with current-No. 3 Minnesota Duluth in Appleton Arena next weekend.

Locke and senior Sabrina Harbec kick-started the Saints’ top-ranked offense, as the duo connected on back-to-back goals only 3:29 apart in the first period. Harbec slid a pretty pass through the crease to an uncovered Locke, who quickly pushed the puck behind Maine goaltender Genevieve Turgeon at 4:17 of the first period to put St. Lawrence ahead 1-0.

That goal would only open the floodgates for the home team, however, as they rattled off three more goals in the opening frame to take a commanding 4-0 advantage into the first intermission. Locke added her second of the game from Harbec and Duggan at 7:46 of the first, while Domenico got into the scoring at 14:25 with a power play goal assisted by sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer.

Batchelor would complete the first period scoring by notching her second of the season with only 50 seconds remaining in the first period. First year student Kirsten Roach found fellow rookie Karell Emard in the offensive zone, and Emard set up the goal by sending a pass to the far post where Turgeon was unable to recover to stop Batchelor’s one-timer.

Though she didn’t see much work in the first period, St. Lawrence goaltender Meaghan Guckian robbed Jenna Ouellette in the final seconds of the frame with a fantastic glove save as the Maine forward skated in one-on-one from Guckian’s right side.

St. Lawrence continued to use one of the nation’s best special teams units in the second period when Duggan scored her 12th goal of the season at 3:16 while the Saints skated short-handed. After taking a pass from Locke, Duggan skated in from Turgeon’s left and though the goalie appeared to make the save, the puck crossed the line while under her leg-pad, putting the home team ahead 5-0.

Domenico would add the final goal of the period at 10:32 on the power play, with assists going to Harbec and Grills, giving the Scarlet and Brown a 6-0 cushion after two periods.

Grills would make it 7-0 at 8:46 of the third period, with assists going to sophomore Tara Akstull and Domenico, before Maine would finally solve Guckian at 10:03 to bring the score to 7-1. Robyn Law recovered a rebound out in front of the Saints goal-mouth and beat the senior goalie glove-side for the Black Bear’s first goal of the weekend. The assist on the goal went to Jenna Gallo.

However, the Saints would respond with two more goals to finish the contest and bring the game to the final score of 9-1. Pyers scored her first of the season on a quick snap-shot off of a nice pass by Domenico at 13:56 of the third period, while Harbec capped the scoring with a dazzling move around Turgeon and tucked the puck into the back of the net for her eighth goal of 2007-08.

“I thought our offense continued to work hard up front and capitalized on a few more chances than we did yesterday,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “We will need a good week of practice and to keep our focus to prepare for a talented Minnesota Duluth squad next weekend.”

Turgeon made 25 saves in a losing effort for Maine and fell to 1-11-2 on the season. Guckian made 11 stops in 51:14 of play before being relieved by rookie goaltender Megan Gallagher. Gallagher, seeing the ice for the first time this season, stopped each of the two shots she faced in the final 8:40 of regulation.

The Saints, who held a 34-14 advantage in shots on goal, proved to bee too much on special teams for Maine, and the Black Bears did not help themselves by taking seven minor penalties. The Scarlet and Brown finished 3-of-8 on the power play and added one short-handed goal while Maine was 0-for-3 with the extra skater.

St. Lawrence will welcome the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to Appleton Arena for a pair of non-conference games beginning next Friday, December 14th at 7:00pm. The games will be rematches of the 2006 NCAA Quarterfinals in Canton, NY which St. Lawrence won by the score of 1-0 to advance to the Frozen Four.

GUCKIAN COLLECTS 16th CAREER SHUTOUT

AS NO. 4 SAINTS DROP MAINE, 2-0

Dec. 7: Senior goaltender Meaghan Guckian made 23 saves including 11 in the third period, while junior forward Marianna Locke scored her first goal since October 20 th as the No. 4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team defeated Maine by the score of 2-0 in Appleton Arena on Friday night.

St. Lawrence improved to 12-3-0 (7-1-0) on the season, while their opponent from Hockey East fell to 1-15-2

(0-6-2).

The Saints had plenty of offensive chances throughout each of the first two periods, but found a very talented rookie goaltender, Sarah Bishop, waiting on the opposite end of the ice. Bishop was outstanding throughout the contest, and her only blemish in the first period came at 7:40 when Locke tallied her fifth goal of the season.

Senior Sabrina Harbec started the play by sliding a pass to the blue line for sophomore Britni Smith. Smith launched a shot on net, and though Bishop handled the first shot, she couldn’t corral the rebound which was scooped up by Locke and backhanded into the goal to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead.

With her team nursing a 1-0 lead, Guckian came up big for the Saints several times as Maine worked to even the score. However, she would post a perfect first period with eight saves.

The Scarlet and Brown, who boast the nation’s top scoring offense, continued to generate chances throughout the second period, firing 27 shots on goal in the frame including 15 on the power play. However, Bishop made several sprawling saves and had some help from her cage, as St. Lawrence hit four posts throughout the contest.

With the score still 1-0 in favor of St. Lawrence, senior Kerri Wallace hit an outlet pass to newcomer Karlee Shields who relayed the puck on to a wide open Chelsea Grills. With the defense behind her, Grills moved in one-on-one with Bishop and got the goaltender out of position to allow the puck to simply slide over the goal line at put the Saints ahead 2-0 at 9:24 of the second period.

Though St. Lawrence held a 45-12 advantage in shots on goal through two periods, there was no quit in the Black Bears, as they worked hard for the full 60 minutes and managed to out-shoot St. Lawrence in the final period 11-9. However, Guckian held her ground and worked with her defense to kill off consecutive 5-on-3 advantages for Maine midway through the period. With an 11-save third period, Guckian posted her ninth win of 2007-08, and the 16th shutout of her career.

“I thought we worked hard offensively all night, created a lot of good scoring chances but didn’t have much to show for it,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “I give Maine a lot of credit, they played a full game and their goaltender kept them around. We know they’ll be ready to play again tomorrow.”

The Saints finished with a 54-23 advantage in shots, including a 25-3 advantage of shots on the power play, though neither team was able to score a power play goal as both squads finished 0-for-6. With the victory, Guckian improves to 9-3-0 on the season, while Bishop falls to 0-5-0 despite making 52 saves, the most against St. Lawrence this season and the first goalie to make 50+ saves against the Saints since March 4 th, 2006 (Sarah Love of Yale made 52 saves in a 6-2 St. Lawrence victory).

St. Lawrence and Maine will hit the ice again tomorrow, Saturday, December 8th to conclude their two-game, non-conference series. The puck will drop on the Saints and Black Bears at 2:00pm.